Inferno - The Battle
by ptrtool1999
Summary: Based on 'Inferno', an unfinished story by Ludzoo, this 'what if' story portrays the battle between the Volturi and the Cullens that surely would have occurred if the story or it's sequels were completed. In the story, Bella is a strong, century old vampire with a trio of potent gifts - mental and physical shields, and the awesome ability to control and harness fire.


**Inferno - The Battle**

**A/N and Background:**

**The story 'Inferno' by Ludzoo is probably my 'favorite' incarnation of a powerful, AU Bella. She has an awesome trio of gifts - the ability to create physical shields, the ability to mental shield, and the mastery of fire. That's right, pyrokinesis. After spending 80 years living a semi-nomadic existence and shunning all company of other vampires, she meets and falls in love with Edward Cullen. Circumstances force them to Italy, the one place she has avoided for her entire immortal life, as she knows Aro would want to either control her - or destroy her - if he learned of the extent of her gifts. So after a brief confrontation, the Cullens leave a very angry and embarrassed Volturi behind when Bella uses her shields to subdue them.**

**Unfortunately, Inferno seems to have been abandoned at the 95% finished mark (I still strongly recommend reading it if you like a strong, competent Bella). So this short work is a 'what if' - what if the story continued, and the Volturi came back to get even with Bella and the Cullens. I found it on my hard drive and decided to post it; if nothing else, maybe Ludzoo will be persuaded to finish her story.**

**This story takes place 10 years after the conclusion of the events in Inferno. **

* * *

**Begin:**

**Story Prologue Summary:**

_After the embarrassing defeat at the hands of Isabella, Aro begins making plans to acquire or eliminate the Cullens. He knows that he will have to somehow get around Bella's shield - so he sends his agents far and wide, to census every vampire they can find, to see if they can find a talent that can eliminate shields. _

_After a decade long search, he finally finds a vampire that can nullify shields. He tests her thoroughly - using Renata (the only shield Aro possesses) and now thinks he can take down the Cullens. Alice, of course, sees them coming and they go to Alaska to their allies, the Denalis.. _

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March, 2015

Bella POV

The day of the Volturi arrival dawned crisp and clear, the blue sky and fleecy white clouds spreading out overhead as our family silently made our way to the clearing where Alice had seen our confrontation taking place. Edward and I ran side by side, gliding like ghosts through the frozen tundra.

Discussion was absent; all strategizing had already taken place, and we all knew what our roles were today. Everyone was counting on me - our survival explicitly depended on my fire ability as our only real offensive weapon. We knew Aro was taking no chances, and was bringing a full contingent of the Guard with him - twenty-five vampires at least, at least five of whom had offensive gifts. And, in his mind, the cornerstone of his strategy - his new guard, Narina. Word had gotten to us - through Eleazar's contacts with the Volturi, and the Romanians - that Aro had recruited a two hundred year old vampire named Narina, that could, at reasonable distance, completely nullify Renata's shield. And now, presumably, Aro and the Volturi thought she could nullify my shield as well. We did not think Aro knew of my ability of controlling fire, so that was going to be our surprise weapon, if my shields were taken down by Narina. But my fears were great - if my shields were down, the Cullens would be at risk from my fire. And, perhaps - so would I.

Jasper and I had talked endlessly over the last five days, going over strategies, making decisions, and having Alice try and see the outcomes. It was difficult, even with my shields down so she could see my future, as there were so many decisions still to be made. My first choice of action, to leave everyone behind at the house, and meet the Volturi myself and then flash fry the entire battlefield, was quickly overruled. What if Narina's shield breaking ability was able to penetrate my barrier shield that protected me from the fire? I would be as vulnerable then as any other vampire. Despite ruefully acknowledging this, I stubbornly held to this plan for quite some time as the least risky, until the combined pleadings of my family made me desist and other strategies were considered.

As we ran, each of us carried a thirty gallon drum of oil with them; we knew that the best way for my energy levels to stay high was with open flames nearby. I could draw from them - even from a short distance - which, in theory, should let me burn all the Volturi members where they stood. We had practiced this exact scenario, and having large fires nearby gave me almost triple the stamina I would otherwise have. Hence, the oil drums.

Realistically, however, it would not be so easy. The battlefield would be fluid, with moving targets, and I couldnt let myself unleash a torrent that would torch both friend and foe. Even with my shields tightened around my family and the Denalis, amplified as strong as I could get them, physical shields took a lot of my strength, and I could not hold them long with foes pounding on them while at the same time I was channeling fireballs at my enemies. Additionally, if Narina was more skilled than anticipated and was able to take out both my mental and physical shields, we would be naked to attack from Jane, Alec, and the other Volturi who had offensive gifts. It was possible that she could even take out my own mental shield, in which case I would be as vulnerable as the rest of my family. This filled me with dread; I had never, ever, been exposed to another vampires powers, and I found that I feared it greatly. And, another factor that was going to keep me restrained in my usage of the fire, was that if Narina took out the physical shields protecting my family just as I immolated the field, they would also be caught in the firestorm. So precision was the strategy today.

Most important to my strength, however - more important than the burning oil we would set off - was having Edward stay as close to me as possible. I drew strength from his fire, and the need to keep him near me and out of the firing line was so instinctive now that if I couldn't see him safe then my concentration would scatter. Jasper had proven this several times during our training, and we all understood that Edward would not be leaving my side.

When we reached the clearing, we immediately set to work; Emmett, Jasper, and Eleazar dug, at full vampire speed, a shallow ditch about a foot deep and about thirty feet long. Into this trench, we poured out the oil from the drums. The plan was to not light them until battle was inevitable and started; otherwise, the Volturi might delay their closing with us, while the fires burned themselves out. The task of lighting them was given to Alice and Irina, each holding a reliable torch lighter that they would flick into opposite ends of the trench; if something went wrong and they couldn't light the fires, I could always set the flame that started the fire; but I wanted my concentration on our enemies, and not on the trench, which would be at my back. This would stop any enemies from getting at me from behind, and would allow me to soak up the fires energy - even stepping into it if necessary - if I began to tire. We had done this at the house, and the oil we used could be counted on burning for a solid fifteen minutes. We held two drums back as emergency pyres, in case the Volturi were able to retreat, and we needed fuel beyond our fifteen minute limit - and which I would detonate if necessary.

Alice called out time warnings as we worked, and when she called out 'one minute', I wrapped my mental shield around the Cullens as they took up position in a V formation. I found that this mental shielding had become effortless for me, and I could keep this shield up for days and at tremendous distances. Shielding the Denalis was also easy, but took some concentration to keep the shield on them; almost as if my brain knew that they weren't immediate family.

with Edward and I at the forward wings of the V, and Jasper and Emmett flanking us, we all faced forward with no expression; most of their jobs were to keep the Volturi away from me while I burned them. Any that slipped through - and we expected some to get past my fires - would be taken down by physical means, and their remains tossed into the fire burning at our backs.

I prepared the physical shields in my mind, ready to throw them around my family at the first instance of violence; we had practiced this many times, and I could throw a precision shield around each of them - that would allow them to move and fight - in less than a half a second; Edward's, of course, was already up - his was the one shield that gave me energy, instead of depleting it. In preparation for today's battle, I had spent the morning bathed in the hottest fire we could burn at our home; a thousand gallons of aviation fuel that burned in a deep pit while I stood in it's midst, soaking up the blaze. Despite having seen what I was capable of, the Denalis were awestruck when I finally emerged from the charred pit after soaking all the fire into myself. My clothes were completely burned off my body, and Edward wrapped me in a robe, but the expression on their faces were not at my nudity; rather, they were half fear and half wonder at my gift. The fire pulsed in me like the heartbeat of the earth, and power and strength flowed through my veins like lava.

As Alice called out 'ten seconds' I could hear their approach now; they had entered Edward's range, maybe three miles, a few seconds before, which meant they were moving fast towards us. As they approached, they spread out in a long, single line, easily fifty yards wide. They slowed, and soon were standing about eighty feet from us, a line of thirty-two strong. Aro and Caius were taking no chances, it seemed.

Seemingly without a word, their formation stopped and they reached up and lowered their hoods. I noticed the varying shades of their robes; the leaders, in the darkest black with burgundy under layers on their cloaks. The elite Guards - Jane, Alec, Demetri, Chelsea, and two I didn't recognize but knew to be Afton and Felix - wore cloaks of black and charcoal. And the rest of the guard were robed in dark grey with black underpinnings. About halfway down the line, stood the woman I assumed was Narina; she had been described to me in detail - short brown hair, very narrow face, aquiline nose, tall, willowy frame. Her eyes scanned up and own our line, and then landed on me. She wore a look of concentration, and determination. I mentally tightened my shields around myself and strengthened the mental shields around my family.

Immediately, Aro's eyes went to mine, before slowly looking over our line. His expression was light; he clearly thought he had the upper hand here, and he was going to spare us the time that it took for him to say whatever it was he wanted to - probably an order to join or die. Caius, however, looked murderous. No doubt he was looking for payback for the insult a decade earlier when I embarrassed the Volturi in their own home. I noticed that his hand clutched a small, silver cylinder; I knew it's like - a compressed gel/gas thrower, that could spray a napalm-like fuel-gel in a ten foot stream, burning anything in it's path. This was a relief to me - it meant they didn't know about my fire gift; or if they did, they didn't know I could absorb fire, and use it to strengthen my own attacks.

I knew that if he used his canister now - or if some of the other guard did - I might not get a chance to get the physical shields up in time - so I threw them up as a precaution, taking a small step back in signal to my family that they were now under my physical shield and they were not to move beyond a twenty-foot arc from my position. I saw, in my peripheral vision, Jasper lift an eyebrow to me, but then I saw his eyes narrow in on another cylinder being wielded by a guard about halfway to the edge of the Volturi line; Jasper probably quickly understood it's purpose, and nodded grimly to me.

A quick scan of their line showed another three guards with the canisters; they would be in for a rude shock when they fired them.

I swung my eyes back to the center of the Volturi line again, taking in the smirking, almost maniacal sneer on Jane's face, the quiet determination on Alec's, the rage on Caius's, and the almost hopeful look on Marcus' face. I wasn't sure what that was about, but my musings were interrupted by Aro, who stepped forward about five feet, flanked by Renata, Caius, Marcus, Jane, and Felix.

"Hello again, dear Cullens." he began, his almost friendly voice disguising his deadly intentions. "I see that our wonderful Alice has seen our arrival. How delightful!", he said, clapping his hands softly together. "And I see that my old friend Eleazar and his coven have joined you! It is always a pleasure seeing old friends."

Carlisle spoke for us, his tone clipped but civil. "Hello Aro. To what do we owe this unexpected visit?"

Aro chuckled lightly. "Ahh, Carlisle, I am quite certain you know why we are here. But if not, I shall spell it out for you and your friends," ended Aro, looking us over once again.

His voice turned less friendly, as he explained. "Ten years ago, you paid us a visit that ended most unfortunately. It seems that your coven has grown in strength, Carlisle; in fact, it has grown to the point where some in the Volturi have begun to question your peaceful ... intentions." He paused on the word intentions, and imbued it with warning.

As he continued,his eyes locked with mine: "We have overlooked your coven's strength for a long time, Carlisle, even when some said that you were growing too strong. You avoided our invitations to Volterra for decades, always citing one excuse or another. Many wondered why - perhaps the Cullens had something to hide? But then, when you finally do accept, you arrive with a new, extremely talented member," he finished, his eyes now hard and cold, and filled with greed and lust.

Carlisle shook his had, sadly. "We have had nothing to hide, Aro. We just want to live our lives in peace. We are no threat to you."

At this, Caius' expression tightened considerably, which was no mean feat as he already looked angry enough to spit nails. "Peace? Peace? Do not insult us, Carlisle! It can be no accident that every vampire you have added to your coven in the past fifty years is extremely talented. That's too much of a coincidence, and it ends today! Your filthy coven of animal drinkers are an abomination and you won't be permitted to continue!" he finished, his voice rising at the end of his angry tirade. Several of the Volturi Guard leaned forward, waiting for the signal to attack.

Aro stood silently while Caius railed at us, and I readied myself for conflict; my hands came up imperceptibly, but enough so that I could spread my fire down the Volturi line in both directions, with enough heat to at least alight their clothing and distract them while I singled out groups of targets for higher temperature blasts, enough to burn through their granite skin and light the venom beneath, turning them to ash where they stood.

So far, the time that had passed since I put up my physical shields up was short, but I knew that I could not hold them indefinitely; we would either need to attack soon, or I would need to release them; and that could be deadly for my family. I twisted my left ankle slightly, which was the signal for everyone save Edward to take a step back, so they would not be in the way while I spread fire into the Volturi ranks.

Aro noticed my slight movement, however, and forestalled my offensive: "We are not barbarians, however, my dear Cullens. And while my brother speaks the truth - you cannot continue as you have - I am prepared to offer you a final choice."

I saw Edward's jaw lock, and I knew that Aro's offer was not something that bode well for us. My own anger was rising now, and the fire twisted inside of me, eager to be free. I poured some fire into my legs, and more into my arms and hands, enabling them to move even more quickly than the fastest vampire; while I could direct fire with just my mind, I had much greater accuracy and control when I used my hands to direct it; and I wanted to be able to move them quickly.

Aro continued his monologue, however, and I held the rising inferno inside of me in check; "We will spare your lives today, if you meet our terms."

Carlisle stood unmoving, his voice betraying only the slightest emotion:" What are your terms, Aro?"

With a sickening grin, Aro let his eyes roam over Edward and I. "Our terms are simple: Isabella, Edward, Alice, and Jasper will join the Volturi as Guards; they will serve for the remainder of their existence. I will allow the rest of you to live, and visit them on occasion, though you will not be permitted to visit without supervision, and never all at once. And while they are in Volterra, they will not be allowed to know where you are living; I want no attempts at covert maneuvering."

I heard my families low growls, and saw the smirks on the faces of some of the Volturi; Felix, leering at me; Demetri, grinning at the spectacle before him. Jane, gleeful, as she anticipated the endless torture she would dish out on my family. But Carlisle answered Aro without any emotion in his voice : "Is that all?"

Aro smiled, a grim, feral smile filled with malice. "No, not quite. In addition, Isabella will not shield any of you except under my express orders, and will allow Chelsea to ... how do you say it these days? Ah yes - 'work her magic' on you."

I heard Edward hiss besides me, as the full meaning of Aro's terms became clear. They would use Chelsea to brainwash the allegiances of my family, breaking their ties.

This time, Edward spoke, a low, angry growl: "And if we refuse"?

Aro's smile faded away, and his eyes turned black. "If you refuse, you die here today - and I will take, by force, those of you who remain alive. And I promise, the survivors will not be treated as Guests or Guard members."

Two full seconds passed in absolute silence as the two sides stared each other down. The fire flared in me, and I knew that I was not going to be able to rein it in this time.

But before I could unleash my wrath, the sweet voice of Esme rang out in the clearing, shocking everyone : "We will never join you, Aro. We prefer to die, here, as a family, then be subject to you a moment longer."

A gasp sounded somewhere down the Volturi line, and my arms came up as Caius's voice rang out over the field: "Kill them!"

Before he had finished speaking, even as my hands were rising, I felt a tremendous swipe against my physical shield, accompanied by a tearing feeling in my head, like I was being shredded in half, and which caused my physical shield to fizzle out completely. Before I could even comprehend what happened - though I knew it had to be Narina and her blocking talent - another shield nullifying blast was headed at me again, faster than I could possibly get the physical shields back up. And until they were up, we were vulnerable. I also felt stabbing pressure against my mental shield, and against the parts of it that shielded my family - no doubt Jane and the rest were attacking, but thankfully my mental shield, at least, had withstood Narina's attack.

Continuing with my hand motion, which were pointed at both ends of the Volturi line, I swept them inwards, red fire sweeping out from my fingertips. I sprayed it, a raging torrent of roiling fire, across the Volturi guards converging on us, alighting at least ten members at each end; their forms were completely ablaze and their forward momentum all but stopped. At the same time, I flung a hard shield out to those Volturi still in the middle of the field and as yet untouched by my fire, flinging them back a good two hundred feet and knocking them flat, and giving myself a few precious seconds to align my next attack and resurrect my physical shields around my family and Edward. As I was about to unleash more flame on the remaining Volturi, I felt another terrible blast of Narina's power, and again my physical shields over my family were down. Even as I recreated them, doubling them up, I looked for the source of these nullifying blasts and found Narina, still unscathed, staring at me from across the field, risen from where my shield had thrown her, her fists clenched and her jaw locked in concentration. With a cry of rage I let the fire explode from me, and let loose a massive fireball at her position; it streaked across the field like a meteor, twenty feet across and blazing like the sun, blackening the grass as it passed with supersonic speed, and sending off a massive shockwave and blast when it impacted at her feet just as she was preparing to spring out-of-the-way. Flames and earth and shimmering air spread outwards in a ring from where the fireball hit, engulfing Volturi guards and sending their bodies flying in all directions.

Suddenly, I felt a glorious heat at my back and knew that our trench fire had been lit. Not five seconds had yet passed since my first torrent was unleashed, but the battle was now fully joined. To my left and right, Guard members that were caught in my first wave were shrieking and tearing at or throwing off their cloaks, beating at flames in their hair as they recovered from my attack. Many of them were lying in ruins, purple smoke streaming from their burning bodies. I saw the shocked faces of the Volturi that had been the core elite, standing or recovering from the shield I used to throw them back, looking on the scene of chaos in front of them. Alec must have recovered already, as I could see his paralyzing mist reaching towards me, and a moment later I felt the stabs of Jane's gift against my mental shield. I also felt another, softer sensation flitting against my shield and my families shielded minds, and realized this must be Chelsea or Afton's gift. I checked to see if anything had gotten through - it hadn't. I threw all my physical shields back up, and strengthened the mental shields. They were holding. The shields were secure, and there was nothing left of where Narina had been except charred and smoking husks that were probably far beyond the ability of any vampire to heal without massive amounts of blood, and time. Neither of which they would be getting today.

My rage at the remaining Volturi spiked. They had unleashed my demon today, and she wasn't going to go quietly. Without Narina, the Volturi had no weapons that could be used against me. My shields were double layered now and felt like the strongest steel, wrapped around my family. The fire blazed in me, hotter than it ever had before.

I roared at them, smiling with a death's head smile. My hands came up again, ready to torch the remaining elite with my hottest fires, when Caius and several others raised their own hands from their cloaks, and suddenly the canister spray-gel was squirting towards us in arcs of fiery death. I threw a dome shield over everyone but Edward and myself for extra protection - Edward's was already completely impenetrable - and concentrated on soaking the Volturi fire into my body. The heat was glorious, and I felt myself recharged and ready to end this fight, now. The enveloping fire cast everything in a red glow, but I could see at least a dozen guardsman converging on me, quickly. These were the ones from the ends of the line who had managed to rip their burning clothing off their bodies before their hair caught on fire or the venom in their eyes combusted, and despite their horrific injuries - many with totally burned faces and scorched bodies and limbs - they wanted me in pieces.

At these Guards, I let the raging inferno blow outwards, a wall of billowing flame, hot enough to melt iron, driven as if by the winds of hell. The flames engulfed their forms, and their screams rang out for a brief moment and then were silenced as their bodies turned to ash, giving off huge plumes of purple smoke, which clogged up the battlefield.

I strode forward, through the glorious flames and the obscuring smoke, my clothing burned away to tatters, and commanded my family to remain where they were; Edward came with me, protected in his shield, and everyone else stayed back at the trench.

There were at least fifteen Volturi still standing, clustered around a horrified Caius and a disbelieving Aro who looked at me with round eyes and shocked expressions. Marcus hadn't risen from the ground yet from where my shield had thrown him, and there were at least three other guards still on the ground next to him slowly getting up, as if dazed.

As I raised my hands to deliver Aro and his group the death they deserved, several of the Guard in the grey cloaks suddenly broke and ran; I let them go, my focus now wholly on the Volturi leadership. They had tried to kill my family, and a red haze was clouding my vision as the fire rose to heights I had never experienced before. I sucked in the flames from the trench pit, causing them to arc overhead and down into my body, and with a scream of absolute hatred shot out a bolt of fiery death that was white hot and left an after image in my eyes. The bolt hit in the center of the Volturi formation, and when my eyes cleared there were piles of smouldering and fluttering ash where Felix, Alec, Caius, and several other vampires had stood. The ash blew about and slowly settled, like grey snowflakes on a surface of black sulfur.

Suddenly, I felt something hard thump into my physical shield from the side, and half turned to see two Guardsmen, with horribly burned faces and limbs, trying to get through my shield to get to me. With a roar, Edward took on one of them, and I flash burned the other one, using a moderately hot flame, which didn't kill as quickly as my previous bolt but which also drained much less energy from me.

Quickly spinning back towards the Volturi Elite, I saw that only a handful remained, maybe a half-dozen, and as one, they turned to flee. I threw a shield over them, a wide dome, and stopped their flight in mid stride. They pounded on it, and it was draining me, but I still was drawing enough power from the trench pit that I was able to maintain it with relative ease. I was aware of my near nakedness, as the flames from the Volturi spray canisters had burned my clothing away; but just as I thought it, I felt Edward draping his coat over my shoulders, which was long enough that it came down to my mid-thigh and shielded my modesty.

I buttoned the jacket, and I surveyed the field; I was stunned at the destruction I had caused. Everywhere, purple plumes of smoke rose to the sky, witness to the horrible inferno I had unleashed on my enemies today. I saw three or four of the Guard still alive, moaning as they burned or crawling pitifully with completely burned off limbs or faces; too horrible to focus on. But I saw no active threats, so I lifted the dome shield from my family, and beckoned them forward. In a rush, they all surrounded me, looking at me with shock and awe and love. Edward, meanwhile, pointed to some of the pitifully mutilated vampires that were still alive, and Jasper and Emmett went off to finish them, while the rest of us strode forward to the domed in Volturi.

The only vampire still living on the field and not either pinned by me or burned to almost obliteration was Marcus. He had sat up from his prone position where I had thrown him, but he had not attempted to flee with Aro and the rest of his Guard. He sat there, watching us with an unreadable expression. As my eyes met his, a small grin appeared on his face, and Edward looked from him to me, and then leaned in to whisper to me : "he is not a threat, love. Leave him be."

As we approached the remaining Volturi, my family spread out in a circle to surround them. Carlisle nodded to me, and strode forward to Aro. Renata cowered at Aro's side, eyeing me with absolute horror and dread; a spasm whistled through me at the thought that I was, truly, a killer now. A murderer, and a monster. I fought the inner voice down, but I know that my soul was stained with the murder of my own kind, and the few Guard members who had fled before would surely carry tales about me, about the demon with the purple eyes who shoots fire from her hands.

Demetri, Jane, Chelsea, Afton, Santiago, Aro, and Renata were the only vampires that were still at Aro's side. A formidable bunch, to be sure, but defanged for now. However, the light touch of something foreign on my shield was still there, and then, again, like a stabbing knife, I felt Jane's gift thrusting at my shield; I snarled at her and she cowered in fear, her mental attack stopping immediately. Even so, I felt a warning was in order : "If any of you attempts to use your gifts again, I will burn you where you stand." I was shocked at how cold my voice sounded, and Chelsea shivered at my words, and the soft fluttering I had felt against my shield vanished.

Aro attempted to stand tall, and he schooled his face to a neutral expression; but his attempt at appearing calm and collected was ruined by his appearance; his robe was badly singed and black smoke marks covered the right side of his pale face. Demetri, who had been closest to the blast that ended Caius and the rest of the Guard near the leaders, was cradling the remains of his right arm with his left; it looked like his hand and half his forearm was gone, completely burned away; his robe was completely burned as well, and his shirt beneath; and livid burn marks marred his otherwise pale skin. His hair was half singed off, and his right eye and cheek were a burned and blistered mess. I wasn't sure if that would heal, the flame was that hot.

Chelsea too, had some injuries, and her long hair looked completely burned off in places and her scalp was burned black, but the rest of them seemed not much worse for the wear, except for the burned or singed robes. But their faces all wore the same look of shock and disbelief; They had never been defeated - not in three thousand years - and this was a new experience for them.

Aro's eyes, so reptilian that they looked almost alien as they wandered over our group, who stood proudly in a surrounding circle and with not a hair out-of-place - save for me, who was near naked except for Edwards long coat. He spoke, his voice not much more than a whisper: "Congratulations Carlisle; you have done well. I am prepared to listen to your terms."

I was incredulous, as was my family, at the sheer audacity of Aro's words. Here he was, completely beaten, and he was still trying to negotiate with us! My shock was broken by Emmett's loud guffaw; he was shaking his head, laughing at Aro as he did. He let his eyes rest on me, and he smiled a grin so wide I thought his face might crack : "Damn, Bella. That was something else! Remind me not to play any pranks on you or Edward."

Emmett's words were like a dam breaking over me, and I felt the tension completely drain out of me; I saw Edward do the same, and watched as my family embraced each other, offering hugs and love, We had faced death today, and had triumphed. I was tired, and drained, and I let all the physical shields go, except for the ones over Edward and the Volturi. Edward faced me, and held my face in his large hands. the look of unfettered love there was enough to melt my soul. I held onto his wrists as he cupped my face, and i leaned up on my tiptoes to lightly touch my lips to his.

The fire still burning in the pit called to me, but I ignored it; the whole battle had taken less than two minutes, and there was still plenty of time to immerse myself when we were done with Aro. I had no doubts that he had to die, else we would be doing this again at some point in the future. But I was curious to see what Carlisle would say.

Carlisle held his hand up for quiet, and we all turned to watch him address Aro. "Aro, you tried to take that which is most precious to me today - my family. I knew you wanted some of them for your Guard; but to threaten them with death? Why Aro? Why could you not let us live our lives in peace?" Carlisle finished, on a frustrated note.

Aro looked at his old friend for a long moment, his shrewd eyes tightening; "You never saw our world clearly, Carlisle. As the self-appointed rulers of our world, we are always on a knife-edge of danger. Now, more than any time in the past. Humans finally have the technology and means to hunt us and kill us. not easily, to be sure, but certainly possible. And in these times of instant communication and cameras everywhere, secrecy is harder than ever to maintain. So to enforce that, the Volturi need strength." Aro's voice had risen, and we felt the force he was putting behind his words - as he knew he was bargaining for his life. "We need enough power to incite complete and total fear in other immortals so that no single vampire can endanger our species with exposure. And if that includes acquiring strong and talented members, through fair means or foul, then we have to take it. for the good of the species."

Carlisle was shaking his head at Aro, who finished his speech with a passionate note in his voice. "No Aro. That argument won't wash. We understand the need for secrecy, and had you approached us as possible allies, we might have aided you. But ruling through fear, and eliminating coven's arbitrarily, is not the way forward. It has gone on too long, and today proved the danger that giving the Volturi absolute authority over our world could cause. How many innocents have you slaughtered, Aro? How many?"

Aro looked at Carlisle shrewdly. "Do you mean to kill me then, Carlisle? Is that your new Golden Path? You will start a realm of peace by murdering your predecessor?"

Eleazar, who had kept quiet up until now, stepped forward. "Not murder, Aro. But justice. Your realm is done. And a new one will be appointed - a council, with diverse membership, that rotates every few decades. Carlisle and I discussed this, and that is the way forward for our race."

As Aro saw the determination in our faces, his eyes found me, and he spoke now with a new desperation. "Isabella - it's not too late. With you and Edward by my side, we can rule with strength and justice. Nothing would be too challenging for us. The fear you would instill would be enough to guarantee that no one will ever step out of line. Join me, and help me to create this world that Carlisle speaks of."

**A/N - And there I leave it, kiddies! I have no desire to write a political piece starring Aro (or, as seems to be likely here, a political story starring 'pieces of Aro.') ;**


End file.
